Butts, ending with its editorial proclamation: “You can tell a lot about a man by the company he keeps.” What was and is lacking in Republicans’ understanding of Warnock’s preaching is any sense of its historical imperatives and, particularly, any depth of understanding of the Black church and its preaching tradition, the social gospel movement, and Black liberation theology.įor too long, the Republican Party has claimed to be the party of the faithful, namely through its identification with the Religious Right. The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) released an attack ad against Warnock featuring excerpts of black theologians and famed preachers: the late Rev. The campaign of Republican Senator David Perdue, Ossoff’s opponent, ran an attack ad that enlarged the Jewish candidate’s nose in what Ossoff said was the “oldest, most obvious, least original anti-Semitic trope in history.” Warnock’s opponent, Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler, repeatedly attacked the pastor as radical because of his faith and social justice sermons. Ugly symbolism and dangerous rhetoric were on display during the Georgia Senate races as well. The metaphor was almost too on the nose.”
Capitol with a Confederate flag over his shoulder the day after voters in Georgia elected the first Black and first Jewish person from the state to serve in the Senate. As The Atlantic’s Clint Hill tweeted: “Can’t stop thinking about that photo of a man strolling through the U.S. On the National Mall appeared gallows with a noose. There were Confederate flags and anti-Semitic apparel and the brandishing of semi-automatic weapons. and the halls of Congress, they carried with them symbols. As violent mobs of right-wing extremists flooded D.C. Indeed, the attacks on Warnock’s faith and the Capitol both revealed ugly realities about American religion and our body politic. The triumph of the moment was too quickly overshadowed by the Capitol insurrection that followed it. On CNN, Warnock invoked Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel and King, two religious titans who marched together during the civil rights movement: “I think he and Dr. Now, as Georgia’s first Black senator-elect, he joins the state’s first Jewish senator-elect, Jon Ossoff, in breaking racial, political, and religious barriers. Martin Luther King Jr., Warnock’s progressive faith was a consistent part of his campaign-and a frequent point of attack. As the senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, the home church of the Rev.
Raphael Warnock told CNN that he planned to return to his pulpit to preach the following Sunday. Warnock (Curtis Compton/Getty Images)Īfter his landmark victory in the Georgia Senate race, the Rev.